1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a refill plug assembly for accessing a refill assembly of a writing instrument and more specifically to a refill plug assembly that is quickly secured to the barrel of the writing instrument and quickly released from the barrel of the writing instrument through a twisting and/or pushing action.
2. Related Technology
Some conventional writing instruments have a replaceable refill assembly for replacing ink when ink in one refill assembly is depleted. Typically, the refill assembly is longitudinally disposed within a hollow center of a barrel of the writing instrument. The hollow center of the barrel may be accessed by removing a front portion (or ferrule portion) of the writing instrument, or the hollow center portion may be accessed by removing a cap on an end of the barrel opposite the writing point. The refill assemblies may include an ink reservoir and a writing point that is fluidly connected to the ink reservoir so that replacing the refill assembly also includes replacing the writing point. Other refill assemblies may not include a writing point and such refill assemblies may be fluidly connected to the writing point during insertion of the refill assembly into the barrel.
When accessing the hollow portion of the barrel, from either end, the cap or the ferrule is typically attached to the barrel with a threaded connection. To remove the cap or the ferrule, the cap or the ferrule must be rotated through several complete turns before the threads disengage. As a result, changing the refill assembly is time consuming because removing the ferrule or the cap and re-attaching the ferrule and cap are both time consuming operations.